Portland Observer, M ay 6, 1982 Section II Page 5
Diciple has purpose in his painting
H IH I
by Nathaniel Scott
It has been said that, "Th e gift of
beauty lies in the eyes o f the behold
e r," that "things come to those who
w a it,” that "to m o rro w is a dream
that leads me onward,” and equally
so, that " I ’ve been to the mountain
top and seen the promised land."
Johnny D iciple— painter, artist,
sculptor, singer, traveler and East
Coast native— paraphrased those
sayings while telling about some o f
his 100 paintings— paintings which
represent the struggle o f one indivi
dual’s search for "purpose.”
" I know that I have a purpose—a
purpose in life ," he said. " A r t is a
part o f it.”
D ic ip le ’s "p ic tu re s ,” as he calls
them, are "stories” with easily iden
tifia b le names. And usually the
closer you get to my paintings, he
said, "Th e more you see.”
Indeed! A t the Coffee M an (811
N .W . 21st Avenue), where five o f
his paintings w ill be on display
through May 10th, one can trace his
search for ’ ’ purpose” through
"L e a vin g M e d fo rd ,” " T h e A u to
bahn,” and "Free A t Last. Free At
Last,” and come away with wonder
ment about what this man's purpose
might be.
There are five paintings adorning
the wall by the telephone, clustered
in haphazard fashion, and through
Artist Johnny Diciple and friand.
his interpretation o f "Free At Last,
Free A t Last," one gets a glimpse of
the “ purpose."
way to an understanding o f his
"Free A t Last, Free At Last," he
quest for "purpose."
said, "is my clothes flying in the air.
D iciple said his only form al art
All o f my possessions.” When all o f
training was in high school, “ when I
your possession are taken away, he
first started doing oils. A ll o f my
added, "you are totally free.”
paintings are basically o f real things
Free to venture to A u N atu rel
but, sort o f abstract. The ’stories’
(215 S.W . 6th Avenue), where more
come out o f me in a lot o f different
o f Johnny Diciple's pictures adorn
ways. In a lot o f ways they are me
the walls.
because they represent the subcon
Again the titles are easily identifi
scious.”
able: the “ Ides o f M arch ," (a water
D ic ip le said there are a lot o f
color o f John L e n n o n ), " S o m e
things in the w orld that are going
where Over The R a in b o w ,” and
wrong and that he would like to re
" O n A Clear Day (you can see for
write some o f those things. But, he
ever).” But the mood changes and
hastily added, " N o w is not the
the veil o f uncertainty begins to give
tim e.” And (he artistic nature began
r-.
!
to unfold as the painter,the artist,
the sculptor, the singer and the trav
eler began to weave the color o f
blackness into his scheme o f things.
H is " p ic tu r e s ,” i f not his " p u r
pose,” began to take fo rm and
shape.
" B la c k is d efin itely a part o f it
(my paintings) because I am black,”
he said. "Y o u have to go out (o f the
black world) and embrace and then,
let the blackness come o u t.”
T o emphasize his p o in t, he
touched upon a mural he did for the
Everett Street Service Center which
deals w ith alcoholics and people
with problems. " I t shows that there
CELEBRATE^
are lots o f other worlds out there
and all you have to do is break
o u t.”
Diciple’s "breakout” is a mixture
o f give and take. A mixtuire where
by "blacks take from and bring to
the neighborhood” experiences o f
the world. And equally so, they do
not feel "a lie n a te d or iso lated ”
when they venture from the "neigh
borhood.”
" I would like to take kids out o f
the neighborhood and travel to the
Renaissance F a ir in Eugene, the
Bumper Shute in Seattle, the Satur
day M ark et and other such places
and expose them to the outside," he
said. " I think in the neighborhood
there is a lot o f fear o f the outside.”
A ccording to D ic ip le , a lot o f
people are hung up on stage one:
Blackness. " I am black. You know I
am black. So why do I have to keep
saying it? Let’s get on with the busi
ness. There is so much talent in the
neighborhood that no one is getting
to see until it’s a shame.”
D icip le presented a couple o f
works to the M e tro p o lita n A rts
Commission in hopes o f obtaining a
grant to do some things with "kids
in the neighborhood.” Thus far, he
has been "turned down.” Neverthe
less, “ I ’ve taught art in pre-schools,
summer program s and other
ventures. I try to teach the kids that
everything around us is art. And if
you let you rself be open to the
world, the world will definitely give
you a reward.”
Johnny D ic ip le — the m an, the
artist— doesn’t like to sell his “ pic
tures” and always feels as though a
piece o f him has been lost whenever
a transaction is made. Though his
quest for "purpose” lim its him to
"eight paintings a year,” the show
ing at A u N a tu re l through the
month o f M ay, which will present at
least 20 o f his paintings, should give
fu rth e r insight in to the m a n ’ s
“ purpose,” a “ purpose that taxes
the imagination as one tries to tell
whether "O n A Clear Day (you can
see fo re v e r),” is a p aintin g or a
photograph.
W H
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